Rotary reel for driving and storing flexible pipe-cleaning elements



March 21, 1950 w. BURTON ROTARY REEL FOR DRIVING AND STORING FLEXIBLEPIPE CLEANING ELEMENTS Filed Jan. 11, 1945 INVENTQR \NKLLXAM BURTONXLIEI %u ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 21, 1950 ROTARY REEL FOR DRIVING ANDSTORING FLEXIBLE PIPE-CLEANING ELEMENTS William Burton, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application January 11, 1945, Serial No. 572,373

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a portable machine for cleaning out drains. Itis an object of this invention to provide a machine of the characterdescribed which will be inexpensive in construction so that it will beavailable even to small shops and workmen who may have to operate alone,and which will be readily transportable so that it may be easily carriedto any place where it may be needed for use.

The machine consists primarily of a drive motor and a flexible cable orsnake connected to be driven by the motor, and to be fed into a drainthat may have been clogged by solidified fats or by paper or the like.

I am aware that devices of this general character have been proposed,but they have been intended primarily for heavy work, and have generallybeen provided with a cutting tool at the forward end to cut out rootsthat have grown into buried drain pipes. The machines have been heavyand complicated and for these reasons have not proved available for awide variety of lighter work.

The present machine is intended to remove only lighter obstructions thatdo not require cutting. Ordinarily if the drain from a toilet or a sinkoccurs it creates an emergency which requires the immediate services ofa plumber equipped only with such tools as he can handle efficiently byhimself, without waiting for an assistant.

The invention accordingly comprises the machine a specific embodiment ofwhich is hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which Fig. l is a perspective view of the machine. Fig. 2 isa front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an elevation taken from the left asseen in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an end elevation from the right as seen inFig. 2 with parts in section on the line 4-4. Fig. 5 is a section on theline 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings, the numeral designates a base shown as T shape havingwheels II on each leg of the T. Rising from the base are a pair ofuprights 12 carrying in their upper ends, journals 13 for a hollow shaftM. This shaft is held against end movement by collars l5 fitting againstthe sides of the journals. Mounted on the base l0, between the uprightsI2 is a motor I6 having upon its shaft a pulley ll driving a largerpulley l8 on the hollow shaft l4, so as to drive the shaft M from themotor at a reduced speed, through the medium of a belt 19.

Mounted on the other end of hollow shaft M, from the pulley I8, is areel comprising a plurality of radially extending arms, each of which,as shown, comprises an outwardly extending portion 2| carrying aninwardly curved portion 22 the outer end of which is bent in again whereit is supported by being attached to the hollow shaft 14. With thisconstruction the curved sections of the arms comprise between them, aconcave faced reel to receive the flexible cable or snake 23, which maybe attached, at its inner end, to the reel at 24. The outer end of thesnake passes through the hollow shaft and extends out as far as may benecessary to enter the drain pipe and remove the obstruction. A clamp 25may be placed upon the hollow shaft for use whenever it may be desirableto clamp the snake in position.

By reason of the construction of the reel, and by reason of thecomparatively slow motion of the reel and snake, sections of the snakemay be removed from the reel during the operation of the device andthrust through the hollow shaft into the drain pipe. But as each sectionis so taken off the reel, the act of thrusting the slack through thehollow shaft brings the portion still on the reel into engagement withthe next arm of the reel, and thus the extruding portion of the snakecontinues to be driven by the motor. The slight relative turning of thesnake and the hollow shaft comprising one revolution for each completecoil taken off of the reel, readily adjusts itself without attentionduring the operation. Similarly, when the operation is over and thesnake is again coiled this operation adjusts the twist by turning thesnake as it is drawn through the hollow shaft, without special attentionbeing required.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

snake may be successively released from each of said arms and thecorresponding length thereof may be shoved through said hollow shaft,and whereby said snake is continuously driven by rotation of said reel.

WILLIAM BURTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,367,387 Hayes Feb. 1, 19212,111,527 Blanc Mar. 15, 1938 2,210,300 Magruder Aug. 6, 1940 2,245,823Rappaport June 17, 1941 2,272,387 Therrin Feb. 10, 1942 2,297,755 FaustOct. 6, 1942 2,318,172 Long May 4, 1943 ,320,309 Smith May 25, 1943

